In
an attempt to survive the economic chaos in Greece at the turn
of the century, many Greek families sent their sons to the United
States. These youths, some as young as fourteen, were expected
to work hard in America and then return to Greece, purchase Greek
land for their families, and provide dowries for their sisters.
In Greece the vast majority of these immigrants had been rural
farmers, but in America they tended to settle in cities such
as New York, Chicago, and Baltimore. Many of them initially found
jobs as dishwashers, laborers, shoe shiners, or street peddlers.
Other Greeks, however, went west, to Nevada, Utah, and California
to work in the mines and on the railroads. Still others went
to Florida where they fished and dove for sponges.

Due
to the strength of their allegiance to Greece, when the Balkan
Wars between Greece and Turkey erupted in 1912 forty-five thousand
Greek American immigrants returned home to fight on behalf of
Greece. After the war, however, the vast majority of these young
men abandoned their intentions to invest their hard earned American
dollars in Greek land and instead returned to America to establish
their own small businesses, such as diners, grocery stores, and
confectioneries. In addition to inspiring many more immigrants,
this shift in intentions initiated the immigration of Greek women
who brought with them Greek cultural and social traditions and
began to help to establish Greek Communities, Greek Orthodox
Churches, and family life in America.

During
World War I, approximately seventy thousand Greeks fought on
behalf of the United States. However, these immigrants continued
to feel strong political allegiances to Greece and organized
several attempts to affect American foreign policy in Greece's
favor. Meanwhile, the Greek controversy between King Constantine
I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos complicated the immigrants'
loyalties and in some cases even disrupted Greek American community
life. It was also during this decade that Greek immigrants established
two nation-wide fraternal organizations, the American Hellenic
Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) and the Greek American
Progressive Association (GAPA). While both of these organizations
were intended for Greeks who had chosen to settle permanently
in the United States, they each advocated different approaches
to Greek life in America. The AHEPA stressed Americanization
while the GAPA stressed retention of the Greek language and traditional
customs.

While
early immigrants and their families worked hard to establish
themselves and create Greek American communities, the number
of Greeks who immigrated to America dramatically decreased in
the 1920's due to a shift in American immigration laws. Those
immigrants who did arrive during these years tended to be more
highly skilled and professionally educated as compared to their
earlier counterparts.

Greek
Immigration to the United States:

Era

Approx.
Total

Approx.
Annual Average

Early
migration 1873-1899

15,000

500

Great
Wave 1890-1917

450,000

25,000

Last
Exodus 1918-1924

70,000

10,000

Closed
Door 1925-1946

30,000

1,300

Postwar
Migration 1947-1965

75,000

4,000

New
Wave 1966-1979

160,000

11,000

Declining
Migration 1980-1989

25,000

2,500

Source:
Charles Moskos, Greek Americans: Struggle and Success,
p.156. It should be noted that it is very difficult to determine
exact numbers of Greek immigrants because many of them were expatriated
Greeks who came to the United States from Turkey.

In
1965 the number of Greek immigrants began to increase, as a result
of the 1965 Immigration Act which ended the national-quota system
and gave preference to family members wishing to be reunited
with those already in America. Between 1965 and 1975 alone, more
than 142,000 people came to the United States from Greece. Regardless
of this increase, however,the number of Greek immigrants has
never equaled the high reached during the first two decades of
the 20th century. The majority of these most recent immigrants
have settled in the New York City area.